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Michel St. Jours
:‘Yes, yes, très drôle, and if either of us wanted to we could kill each other as easy as one wakes in the morning,’ said Michel, not inching closer but taking a step towards the woman with confidence. :— to Zimelda Zemeckis, 2026. Michel St. Jours ''(pronounced: mi-chel san joor)'' is a half-blood British wizard, currently employed as Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic. He was a Hufflepuff student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, graduating in the summer of 2025 with stellar N.E.W.T.s results. Following a summer travelling the world to learn obscure magic in some of the more obscure places in our known Wizarding World, he took employment as an International Correspondent for the Daily Prophet, before being surprisingly lifted up to a position in the British Ministry for Magic. Working for the Minister for Magic and amongst her administrative staff, he would swiftly learn the difficulty in balancing quite varied responsibilities by gaining both the role of Junior Assistant and acting de facto as a Shadowkeeper. Throughout his years at Hogwarts, Michel became known for his magical prowess and duelling ability, being invited to become a member of a secret club of gifted and talented students in his N.E.W.T. years. Having always been fascinated with mastering all kinds of magic, he always concentrated on learning a new practical piece of magic each day, a practice which led to his prodigious skill in Transfiguration, Charms, and Duelling. Despite his magical skill practically being public knowledge, his secret ability as a Metamorphmagus was kept as a deadly secret which to this day few people are aware of - he did not want knowledge of the ability to jeopardise any future professional use of it. Biography Family Michel's mother, a muggle, is a loving mother who perhaps mollycoddled Michel a bit too much when he was younger in contrast to his father's distant upbringing of him. She works as a legal secretary for a local solicitor company office in Taunton, Somerset. Michel's father, a half-blood wizard who works as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts Bank. Throughout Michel's childhood he was quite distant, nearly constantly off working and when he did return home he and Michel did not have much of a parent-child bond. The closest Michel got to bonding with his father was a summer when his father decided to show him what his work was like which led to him learning Gobbledegook. His maternal grandparents are both Muggles currently retired and living in Somerset. His paternal grandparents both grew up in France but emigrated to English in 1970 - it is from them Michel learned to be fluent in French. Early Life Michel grew up in the cosy yet quite boring village of Porlock in Somerset in the West Country of England. He had few friends in the village so became quite a mummy's boy in his early years. In fact, his first experience of magic came when his mother Catherine took him to the nearby supermarket in the nearest big town. This supermarket had a play area where Michel was left whilst Catherine would do her shopping. Sat in a toy car in the play area, he began to miss his mother profusely and as he thought about her more he suddenly realised he was not in the play area but sat in the toy car on a shelf in the aisle his mother was shopping in. To say she was shocked is an understatement. Michel first went to muggle school at the age of 5 where he began to make some more friends, but not many. Generally the nosepicking and farting losers in the corner of the classroom with whom he was unfortunately sat with in his first class. But however much they were nose-picking and farting losers they were Michel's friends until he turned 11 and received his invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His friends believed he attended a posh boarding school in the middle of nowhere. Acceptance to Hogwarts Michel received his acceptance letter to Hogwarts in the summer of 2018 - an expected occurance. He had waited for ages and had begun to worry he wasn't going to get it despite his parents' reassurance. His work at the Daily Prophet Following his graduation from Hogwarts, Michel's language skills helped him gain a position as International Correspondent at the Daily Prophet. Through this work he gained many valuable contacts throughout various foreign ministries and their countries' respective newspapers, but none more than Le Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France, where his French language upbringing and knowledge of the culture helped him gain a few friends in high places. A love affair "‘A love affair.’ she said resting back into her chair, eyes narrowing in thought as she too, pulled on the last dreg of own coffin-nail. ‘Did you kill him?’ she taunted, with a sardonic laugh, reaching for her glass of Cocchi Americano. '' ''‘No, although I think if I had stayed, it may have been the other way around,’ he said, picking up his own now-lukewarm espresso to take a sip. ‘We had met in Paris. I was tailing someone high up in the French Ministry because that old crone Pest had heard some whispers about an extra-marital affair. Anyway, I had lost track of the man and ended up in Griffon Buveur, an old pub in Place Cachée - the old wizarding street in Paris - and he bought me a drink. Charming, kind, and the most beautiful blond hair I had ever seen…’ He paused a moment to look at Zimelda, finding his way back to her golden eyes once again." While working on Daily Prophet work in Paris, Michel struck up a whirlwind romance with a fellow Englishman. The man had a chambre de bonne ''apartment on the tenth floor, which Michel would share with him whenever his journalistic work would bring him to the city - something which he ensured happened increasingly often. Unfortunately, the romance would turn sour as Michel suspected his man was growing dark. Following a romance-shattering event that left him shaken, Michel returned to England. He swore to himself that he would dedicate him life to huntiing down that shadowy organisation that the French wizards who know of it only dared to name as ''l'Ombre - the shadow. Ascension to the Ministry of Magic Knowing that the Daily Prophet could only get him so far in his efforts, Michel prospectively applied directly to the Minister for Magic in the hopes his direct method would find him at least working close to those who might be fighting this mysterious organisation. Thankfully, as part of the efforts to improve the Ministry, a position as the Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic was open, which Michel promptly filled. Soon enough, he would find himself working under the enigmatic witch Zimelda Zemeckis as a Shadowkeeper. Personality Michel has always been concentrated on the pursuit of knowledge and the practical demonstration of it. He enjoys seeking it in adventurous places - learning about new things as he wanders through the world. The reasoning behind this urge for knowledge and such is that he has a deeply innate want to be accepted. With a childhood of somewhat loneliness and a bitter bringing up in terms of his father, he is always searching for people to accept him and sometimes he can put up a protective barrier of feigned confidence for fear of being seen as inferior. Magical Abilities and Skills Transfiguration An accomplished Transfigurer, Michel is known to have honed his art so well he has been able to nonverbally utilise a number of complex Transfigurations into many a duel. Charms Quite adept with Charms, having succeeded in securing an Outstanding in both his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in the subject. Defence Against the Dark Arts A skilled duellist, Michel has been known to utilise the full breadth of his magical knowledge - from obscure jinxes to Transfigurative defences - in order to combat his opponent. Apparition Owing to the need for swift travel between London and Paris as an International Correspondent for the Daily Prophet (and in spite of an early incident in which he had to re-attach his own little toe in a broom closet at Le Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France) he has managed to master a good ability in long-range Apparition. However he restricts himself to a strict 400 mile limit, as he believes attempting a trip any further than the approximate distance between London and Hogwarts to not be worth the risk without further careful practice. N.E.W.T. Examination Results Possessions *An intricate pocket watch with magical runes upon the face and five different hands - two for time, one for weather, one for a stopwatch, and one which functions as a thermometer and/or magic detector when the chain is dipped into a liquid or places upon something. Michel received this as a 17th birthday present Relationships Zimelda Zemeckis (colleague) Upon his arrival at the Ministry, Michel engratiated himself with Zimelda. Owing to the dark and dangerous matters that they would work with, they swiftly developed a good, if at times tempestuous, working relationship. Sometimes Michel is unsure how to feel about Zimelda; equally intrigued by and suspicious of the woman's background and working methods, but ultimately he is prepared to walk whichever path they end up falling upon in their work as Shadowkeepers. Lurking in the background of this budding relationship is a secret, one which Michel harbours not only for the sake of the work that must be done, but for other reasons unknown. Minister Hannah Fischer (boss) With regards to his official direct boss at the Ministry of Magic, Michel tries to keep his head down and do his best at the job the Minister actually pays him to do. Unfortunately with his emotional motivations to concentrate more on the Shadowkeeping side, sometimes the working relationship between Minister and Assistant can grow tense. TBC (ex-lover) Michel still carries a candle for his ex-lover with whom he enjoyed a romance in Paris. With his man being stolen from him by dark magic, he hopes that one day he can bring him back to the side of good. Rumours "Don't you think it's a bit weird how he went straight from the Daily Prophet to the Ministry of Magic? That man must know some people." "You could call him a diplomat if that was a professional term for someone who had probably had a fling with half the French Ministry of Magic." "He's got to be a spy for the Prophet - I'd bet you half a quart of dragon's blood." Languages Michel is a trilingualist and speaks English, French, and almost fluent Gobbledegook. He has an aim to become a polyglot and has a list of languages to learn which includes but is not limited to Arabic, Latin, Spanish, Mermish, and Parseltongue (hearing only due to the impossibility of learning to speak it). Behind The Scenes Michel is played by Markus Slingshot (a.k.a. Jack) the co-owner of Second Life home and garden store ChiMia. He enjoys roleplaying at Mischief Managed in his downtime when he is not furiously meshing away for this deadline or the next. Category:Hufflepuffs Category:Ministry of Magic